Lauterbrunnen airspace is shared among paragliders, speedflyers and BASE jumpers. Mutual cooperation and respect is required to avoid accidents and keep the airspace open. Robi Caspani reports that right now the locals have a poor opinion of base jumpers as a few are behaving in unacceptable ways…
Dear Base jumpers, it’s five minutes to High Noon
##Who am I to say that?
My name is Robi Caspani. I have lived in this region for twenty-four years and this is my twenty-second season. I earn my living as a Tandem Paraglider Pilot. I started hang gliding in 1976, paragliding in 1988, skydiving when I was 55, base jumping at 56, wingsuit base jumping at 57. I’ll be 58 in a couple of weeks. Despite my age I still wander around with my eyes and ears wide open. As I roam in the valley almost every day of the week and run a close relationship with authorities, CEOs and personnel of the cable car companies and farmers, due to my job, I get to see and hear a lot.
Facts
Everybody realizes that the base community is growing at a fast pace and you don’t need to be a prophet to estimate that the peak is not yet reached.
More people = more problems
(Einstein’s relativity theory)
History proves that it’s often just because of a few individuals behaving in ways from inappropriate to unacceptable, that a whole community is seen in a negative way. Let me tell you, at the moment the ‘Like curve’ from a lot of the local population towards the base jumping community is pointing down.
Why?
- More and more jumpers not landing in the designed fields
- Jumping without a landing card
- Jumping without calling Air Glacier [(Lauterbrunnen is controlled airspace with 5km radius around the Air Glacier Heliport]
- Wild camping
- Littering
- Entering the cable car building and even the cable car itself with the gear unstashed
- Passing ‘normal’ tourists standing in the queue for the cable car
What do we do?
Either we choose ‘self regulation’ – as little as possible, or as much as necessary – or we will get regulated by the outside. Action or reaction, that’s the question. Have you got any doubts which you prefer? Not me!
following basic rules and being cool at the same time is not a paradox
Over the years the SBA (Swiss Base Association) has set a few basic rules. Some are there to prevent mid-air incidents between paragliders, speedflyers, base jumpers and helicopters, others to maintain a good relationship with the locals. They introduced the ‘landing card’, so a fair contribution can be paid to the farmers on whose private properties we land on. [The landing card costs 25 euro for a year’s fun.] The SBA has arranged an accident insurance in place that covers base jumping. Whoever does not follow these rules, is endangering the freedom of BASE in the valley!
Consequently:
- Land on designed fields only. Landing on the parking lot is a absolute no go!
- Be proud of buying the landing card, you’re supporting the local farmers
- The only things sticking out of rock cracks should be Edelweiss, don’t litter
- Only enter the cable car building with your rig packed or your gear stashed
- Don’t enter in a competition with the Chinese when queuing for the cable car, you’re going to lose anyway. Queue like British gentlemen instead.
- Why not spend a bit of money on a campground? You’ll meet girls if you wear a VBG Shirt. On top of that they have showers. The ‘normal’ tourists riding in the same cable car with you the next day will appreciate this.
If you see fellow jumpers misbehaving, why not point out to them that following basic rules and being cool at the same time is not a paradox.
Base jump heroes, the ones regularly seen on Vimeo, youtube and epic tv, the ones the rookies look up to, please accept the inherent responsibility. You’re the role models.
You Don’t Give a Fuck?
If you’re not Swiss or not Swiss-based and of the opinion that base jumping is anarchy and you are on a mission to revolutionize the world, please start in your own country.
If you’re Swiss or Swiss-based, you’re a lucky bastard. You live in one of the finest democracies on planet earth. Base jumping is legal, even hiking naked is, and smoking weed is tolerated.
No matter where you’re from, no matter why you’ve chosen to be a base jumper, if you are not willing to follow the most basic rules that are set by a local base community in order to protect the freedom of jumping, stay at home and jump your own sites with your own set of rules.
Switzerland is as little mine as it is yours. In fact, every place on planet earth belongs to all of its inhabitants. It’s just the governments raising the fences and trying to make us believe that we belong to nations. No reasons to run wars otherwise.
Base Jumpers around the World
Thank you and both thumbs up for helping making it easier for the locals to like us.
A Special Thank You
- to the people running the Swiss Base Association for their work
- to Air Glacier for the rescue flights
- to Dr Bruno Durrer for saving lives and regularly defending our activity in the media
- to Martin Schürmann for putting up the exit ramp each winter
- to Schilthornbahnen for offering a monthly pass at a generous price
- to all the farmers for letting us land in their fields in exchange for a fair contribution
Words by Robi Caspani, a guy that cares
BASE jumping in Switzerland legally is a privilege and not to be taken for granted. Please protect our ability to jump by respecting yourself, the sport, our sites, your fellow jumpers and locals and help to convey a positive image of BASE jumpers to the general public!
Please do not listen to jumpers trying to convince you to go beyond your level of experience or skills. Take one step at a time and progress slowly. The cliffs will be here longer than any one of us.
